Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Owning Oakland

Burrtio Justice owns a house in Oakland, California. Of course Burrito Justice's family didn't always own this land. In fact this small piece of Oakland has a long history of ownership.

For many centuries this part of the world was inhabited by the Ohlone people. One day some foreigners arrived and told the Ohlone that this land actually belonged to the Spanish. In 1820 the Spanish gave a land grant to Luis María Peralta. Luis Peralta staked out his claim (which contained nearly all of what is now known as Oakland and Berkeley) and so began his ownership of a large slice of California.

Over the years this large parcel of land has been subdivided into ever smaller plots and sold off. That's how Burrito Justice ended up with his house in Oakland. You can traverse through the history of this ownership of Oakland in a new Leaflet powered map.

The History of a Piece of Oakland is a timeline and map which shows how the ownership of Oakland has changed over the years. Start in the year 1820 and you can view the extent of Luis Peralta's estate. As you progress through the timeline you can follow the ownership trail of the land on which Burrito Justice's home now stands.